Schnick-Schnack-Systems on Dancing with the Stars

ABC's Dancing with the Stars has a new look, courtesy of James Yarnell, the set designer, and Simon Miles, the lighting designer. A new set with the dance floor raised above the audience provides a 360-degree stage, taking full advantage of the studio space, including three balcony tiers. The dancers make their grand entrance through the new tracking center-stage staircase. The new design also features a new fully integrated Schnick-Schnack-Systems multi-media LED lighting installation in its North American television debut.

"The visual quality of Schnick-Schnack-Systems is really apparent; the vivid colors and effects combinations are almost endless," notes Miles. "Schnick-Schnack is specifically designed for applications like this. The color consistency, quick response, and great 'on camera' performance is brilliant. The quality is exactly what you would expect of German engineering. We were also rather impressed with the ease of installation into such a large, complex set. Everyone is very happy."

Schnick-Schnack-Systems is billed as the first LED accent lighting system designed for production integration. The Dancing with the Stars system is comprised of Schnick-Schnack-Systems' advanced C25-250 and B25-250 LED strips, 633 of the C25-250 Strips for video mapping on the set's main tracking staircase, and 1,318 of the B25-250 Strips for accenting the stage and all three 360-degree balconies. The Schnick-Schnack-Systems LED strips are mounted on every edge of the set for color chases and timed effects. Schnick-Schnack-Systems 4E controllers drive the versatile DMX or video controllable system.

The Schnick-Schnack-Systems LED-strips used on Dancing with the Stars each have ten Nichia LEDs evenly spaced along their 25mm length. The strips serve as backlighting set elements such as stairs, edging strips, and translucent surfaces and for accentuating set edges and profiles. The units can be used as a backlight with only 3" clearance from the backlit material, and, without diffusion material in front, can also be used as an LED video matrix for direct flicker-free viewing. Each strip comprises a full range of primary colors, allowing for optimal color mixing.

Schnick-Schnack-Systems is exclusively distributed in North America by TMB.